Puppy Confidence Foundations for Scent Work
The future Scent Work dog starts long before formal odor training.
Tiny Nose, Big World is the first webinar in a series on developing the young Scent Work dog from puppyhood into search readiness. This webinar focuses on puppies from about 8 weeks to 4 months.
During this age range, handlers build the foundation under the dog they want later. Puppies need safe novelty, calculated exposure, recovery practice, body confidence, reward engagement, early hunt behavior, problem solving, and room to explore at a puppy-appropriate pace.
This webinar covers simple Scent Work games, early nose engagement, surfaces, movement, startle recovery, independence, handler support, reinforcement value, and age-appropriate choices while the puppy remains fully allowed to be a puppy.
Handlers will learn how to support curiosity, encourage investigation, build recovery, strengthen reward engagement, and choose developmentally appropriate ways to involve young puppies in scent-work foundations.
This live webinar includes interactive discussion, examples, and practical exercises for handlers raising current or future Scent Work puppies.
Puppy Webinar Progression Note
These puppy webinars are designed as a developmental sequence, not a strict age-based track. Puppies mature at different rates, and readiness for the next layer should come from the puppy’s current skills, confidence, recovery, reward value, independence, and ability to stay productive in training.
Puppy Series: Part 1 - Tiny Nose, Big World Webinar: introduces the puppy to safe nose use, confidence, exploration, and recovery.
Puppy Series Part 2: From Curiosity to Hunt Webinar: takes that curiosity and develops independent hunt, reward value, persistence, resilience, and puppy-level problem-solving.
Puppy Series: Part 3 - From Hunt to Search Webinar: begins turning that hunt into early search work through simple setups, early team communication, careful handler support, and preparation for odor foundations or early odor progression.
